How about we just get better players who are good on the PP?
The Rangers have to be one of the worst teams at getting rebound chances on the PP. Stop skating past the net! Plant your butts there and bang for rebounds, you have an extra man out there!
Boyle planted on top of the crease with McCabe the point shot. How hard is this to get done out there?
Honestly, a powerplay coach will only take you so far. In my opinion it's about 90 percent skill 10 percent preparation and setup. We don't have any great passers, we don't have a good QB, we don't have someone that can get it into the zone and hold possession, and our sniper can't snipe anymore. If we had a Stamkos to rip one timers, or a Sedin making tape to tape cross ice passes, do you think we would be complaining about the powerplay coach?
Agreed, GHT. We're lacking in talent, but some people make it sound as if we're some ECHL-caliber offense. At times, this team is just beyond lost on the PP and offense in general. Yes, we're lacking in talent, but our performance at times is just totally unacceptable for an NHL team.
I look at the player's on this roster and I see a bottom ten PP unit. That we are somehow ahead of PIT, PHI and CAR is mind-boggling to me. Who is this team's PP QB? Del Zotto? Zuccarello? Please. Look at the big guns that other team's are putting out on their power play units. Goligoski and Letang are both better on the PP than anyone on our roster and, to use an HF cliche, it's not even close. Philly might have 4 or 5 forwards with more offensive skill than any forwards on this team. They also happen to have Timonen and Pronger, both of whom also have more offensive skill than any D man on this team.
Look at the personnel. Make an argument as to how we should be so much better than 18th.
However, let's just say that theoretically I buy your argument. Do you have any way of proving a correlation between Mike freakin Sullivan and our PP? No one has any idea what assistant coaches in the NHL do, we're not given that information. Let's all stop acting like we know what goes on in the locker room.
I look at the player's on this roster and I see a bottom ten PP unit. That we are somehow ahead of PIT, PHI and CAR is mind-boggling to me. Who is this team's PP QB? Del Zotto? Zuccarello? Please. Look at the big guns that other team's are putting out on their power play units. Goligoski and Letang are both better on the PP than anyone on our roster and, to use an HF cliche, it's not even close. Philly might have 4 or 5 forwards with more offensive skill than any forwards on this team. They also happen to have Timonen and Pronger, both of whom also have more offensive skill than any D man on this team.
Look at the personnel. Make an argument as to how we should be so much better than 18th.
I've seen a PP that at times looks functional. We've had some nice stretches where we've looked competent. Then we've had stretches where we've gone like 1-32. It's not acceptable. We need more consistency; not this on-again off-again ****.
Quote:
However, let's just say that theoretically I buy your argument. Do you have any way of proving a correlation between Mike freakin Sullivan and our PP? No one has any idea what assistant coaches in the NHL do, we're not given that information. Let's all stop acting like we know what goes on in the locker room.
I didn't blame it on Sullivan. Other people were talking about the PP in this thread, so I chimed in.
Just to expand on this notion, let's look at the top-5 teams in the NHL in terms of PP percentage:
VAN: H.Sedin-D.Sedin-Kesler-Ehrhoff. Sedin twins can pass the puck like no other forward pairing in the league. Kesler is 100 times better than any center on our team and also happens to win faceoffs with a high proficiency, something our centers did not do all season. Ehrhoff is one of the most underrated, and most consistent offensive D-men in the league. He also has more offensive skill than any D-man on our team.
SJS- Marleau-Thornton-Heatley-Couture-Boyle
ANA- Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry-Fowler-Visnovsky-Selanne. I'm not even going to comment on this group because it speaks for itself.
CHI- Toews is awesome at faceoffs, Keith is great on the point. CHI might be the anomaly in the group because their numbers exceed the amount of talent on their roster.
NYR- Gaborik (has sucked all season, whether he's injured or not, let's stop making apologies and accept it for what it is)-Dubi-Cally (injured for a long stretch)-??????-???????-???????. Bunch of question marks after that. Boyle? Prospal? Stepan? Zuccarello? Erik Christensen? Come on....
You know which assistant coach should be fired? Whoever somehow managed to let the Caps PP deteriorate to 16th.
I've seen a PP that at times looks functional. We've had some nice stretches where we've looked competent. Then we've had stretches where we've gone like 1-32. It's not acceptable. We need more consistency; not this on-again off-again ****.
The power play is like everything else in sports. It will always regress to the mean. If the Rangers PP has looked functional at times that means nothing else other than the fact that it's subject to variance. An awful faceoff man can have a good night and win 8 out of 10 but over the course of an entire season he'll still finish where he always does. The PP is the same way. It's not inconsistency. It's that our team isn't built to have a good PP.
The power play is like everything else in sports. It will always regress to the mean. If the Rangers PP has looked functional at times that means nothing else other than the fact that it's subject to variance. An awful faceoff man can have a good night and win 8 out of 10 but over the course of an entire season he'll still finish where he always does. The PP is the same way. It's not inconsistency. It's that our team isn't built to have a good PP.
We can't even gain the blue line the majority of the time. You can rationalize that any way you want, but I refuse to accept it. The talent is not as bad as the product we typically see. If anything is an aberration, it's that we actually finished 18th. The way we run our PP, we should be much lower than that. And as I've said, I think we can be at least league average with our roster. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point.
And god forbid we overachieve on the PP for a change. The PP has been awful for years, despite changes in personnel.
We can't even gain the blue line the majority of the time. You can rationalize that any way you want, but I refuse to accept it. The talent is not as bad as the product we typically see. If anything is an aberration, it's that we actually finished 18th. The way we run our PP, we should be much lower than that. And as I've said, I think we can be at least league average with our roster. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point.
And god forbid we overachieve on the PP for a change. The PP has been awful for years, despite changes in personnel.
We can't even gain the blue line the majority of the time.
It's hard to gain the blue line when you don't have any forwards capable of carrying the puck through the neutral zone or any defensemen capable of making long breakout passes. That's just one of the reasons why Gaborik hasn't been scoring this season. No more breakaway passes.
[/QUOTE]You can rationalize that any way you want, but I refuse to accept it. [/QUOTE]
OK, you can try your best to fix it than. I'll guarantee you one thing though. Firing Mike Sullivan won't change anything. So you're going to have to try something else.
[/QUOTE]The talent is not as bad as the product we typically see. [/QUOTE]
No, it's pretty much right where it should be.
[/QUOTE]If anything is an aberration, it's that we actually finished 18th. [/QUOTE]
Agreed. No PP QB for most of the season before McCabe. Our leading goal scorer can't score goals. Our first line center is Erik Christensen. Our most talented offensive D-man is Matt Gilroy. We should probably be bottom 10.
[/QUOTE]The way we run our PP, we should be much lower than that. And as I've said, I think we can be at least league average with our roster. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point. [/QUOTE]
Yes, we will. When I watch teams with effective PP units, I see a bunch of skilled players making tape to tape passes and generally showcasing their high level of talent. We don't have a high level of talent or the ability to make accurate passes. We're a bunch of grinders, that's our self-professed identity. Skill and creativity make for a good PP, not grinders.
[/QUOTE] And god forbid we overachieve on the PP for a change. The PP has been awful for years, despite changes in personnel. [/QUOTE]
The fact that you're asking that this team "overachieve" seems to be an admission that my entire argument is correct.
CHI- Toews is awesome at faceoffs, Keith is great on the point. CHI might be the anomaly in the group because their numbers exceed the amount of talent on their roster.
I mean, you're really selling their talent short. Kane, Toews and Sharp are all excellent players that have great hockey sense when it comes to scoring. Keith and Seabrook are awesome at the point. After that you still have Hossa, Bolland, Brian Campbell, Hjalmarsson, and Frolik.
